25 percent of registered voters come out for McKean County election

November 9, 2011

File photo â€“ Incumbent McKean County Commissioner Joe DeMott, left, of Port Allegany, was unofficially the top vote-getter in the commissioners race with 3,519 votes.

Lane returns as county commissioner

SMETHPORT -- Cliff Lane will be returning to the McKean County Board of Commissioners.
According o complete, but unofficial totals, Lane defeated incumbent Judy Church by 276 votes for a seat on the board. Both are Democrats. Lane is from Turtlepoint. Church is from Smethport. Lane received 2,552 votes and Church had 2,276, based on unofficial totals.
Incumbent Republican Commissioners Joe DeMott of Port Allegany and Al Pingie of Bradford Township both won re-election to the board. DeMott received 3,519 votes and Pingie had 3,283.

Newcomer Carl "Bill" Tunall Jr. and incumbents Howard Kane, Janet Bard and Holly Harris won election Tuesday to the Kane Borough Council.
Tunall will replace Councilman Mike Merry, who did not file nominating papers last spring to seek re-election. Merry was among several Kane residents to receive write-in votes Tuesday for a seat on council.
Tunall is a former chief of the borough Streets Department.
Tunall and the three incumbents were the only candidates on the ballot for four council seats up for election Tuesday.

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School board president Kane wins election

Ken Kane, president of the Kane School Board, received more than enough write-in votes Tuesday to retain his seat.
Kane declined to file nominating papers earlier this year for re-election and wasn't on the ballot in the May primary.
He appeared to receive a sufficient number of write-in votes in the primary to hold both the Republican and Democratic lines in the general election. However, the Board of Elections did not certify him as a primary winner because his son has the same first and last name and is registered to vote.
Four other members of the school board ran for re-election without opposition. They include David Westerburg and Mark Paup of Wetmore Township and Harry Steele and Dick Coleman of Kane.
There were other write-in candidates Tuesday, but no one came close to matching Kane's totals.

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Paar re-elected as Mt. Jewett councilman

MT. JEWETT -- Chuck Paar, the president of the Mt. Jewett Borough Council, won re-election Tuesday as a write-in candidate.
According to complete, but unofficial totals, Paar received 82 write-in votes to edge Mike Mix. A former Mt. Jewett fire chief, Mix received 68 write-in votes, according to unofficial totals.
Councilmen Wil Antrim and Brett Morgan, both Republicans and listed on the ballot, also won re-election. Antrim received 132 votes and Morgan received 112.
There were several other write-in candidates for council.
Paar earlier this year decided not to seek re-election and was not a candidate in the May primary. However, he later announced that he was seeking re-election as a write-in candidate.
That decision came shortly after council voted to take over the operation of the borough water system. The Mt. Jewett Borough Water Authority, which was created by council years ago, formerly handled the water operation. Mix served on the authority at the time of the council takeover.

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Bodistow elected as Wetmore Township supervisor

Elaine Bodistow won election Tuesday as supervisor for Wetmore Township.
According to complete, but unofficial totals, Bodistow received 303 votes. She was listed on the ballot both as a Republican and Democrat.
Local businessman Don Payne, who waged a write-in campaign, received 181 votes, according to unofficial figures.
Bodistow currently serves as the township's secretary-treasurer. She is expected to continue to hold this position when the new Board of Supervisors meets in January.
In the May primary, Bodistow defeated both Payne and incumbent Supervisor Ron Conklin for the Republican nomination. She also received a sufficient number of votes to hold the Democratic line in Tuesday's election.